Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve)

“I support all aspects of the strategic reserve within this bill. It ensures our fuel security as well as security of other strategic materials and will ensure our security of strategic critical minerals and rare earths. Australia, under the leadership of this government, is stepping up to take responsibility to lead globally on critical minerals and rare earth elements, and I commend the bill to the House.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“Establishing this Strategic Reserve is in our national interest, now, and in the future.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“I thank the officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and from Export Finance Australia who worked around the clock to deliver this key piece of legislation so quickly. This bill is a testament to what can be achieved to advance Australia's national interest when we bring together all arms of statecraft. This bill is an act of economic resilience, and I encourage all in the Senate to support this legislation.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“Export Finance Australia needs new powers to finance the import of fuel and other necessary goods. In this parliament we talk all the time about making sure our farmers have urea. We've heard from the housing industry that we need things like PVC piping, and more and more conversations with stakeholders will reveal critical things that need to come into the country. This very elegant vehicle will allow Export Finance Australia to: provide financial derivatives; provide price support; purchase, sell and stockpile fuel and other necessary goods to ensure domestic availability as and when directed by government; and financially hedge resulting exposures as appropriate.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“On behalf of the government, EFA will be able to underwrite the purchase of shiploads of fuel to get them here to Australia. It can provide insurance, derivatives, loans and other arrangements to make sure that those companies can go and get those cargoes for Australia and Australians. These new fuel security powers will put Australia in a strong position, securing fuel supplies where the cost may be prohibitive for private suppliers to source on commercial terms without government support. We will not wait for a crisis to get worse before doing what is needed. We are preparing for future challenges and getting ahead of the curve to shield Australians from the worst of this global uncertainty. Establishing these strategic powers is in our national interest and must pass the parliament today or tonight.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“There's a second part of moving the fuel, which is to make sure fuel from offshore gets to our country. This bill is playing a role in supporting that. We do support that part of what this bill is doing. I think this is an important initiative, and we will absolutely support that, but it has taken too long. They were moving the fuel. They were moving all of the petrol, from one of our two remaining refineries, offshore. They were exporting it. They needed to move that fuel not off to Asia or wherever it was going but to regional communities and those 600 servos that didn't have fuel.”

Liberal Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“The supply of diesel right now to the farming areas is absolutely critical. A group of Western Australian wheat and barley farmers told me that they'll probably need 35 litres of diesel a hectare for the entire crop cycle. That's the sowing, the spraying of the weeds, the top dress of urea and then the harvest, so it's significant. They're wanting to know that there is going to be security of supply and that cost is going to be under control, because the cost of that 35 litres and whether you can get it in the first place is part of the decision-making process for how much crop you put in and whether you'll have the margins to make it a viable exercise. It's absolutely critical for agriculture. The coalition's position on this bill is that it will support it. We think this is a sensible measure. In a crisis, the government should act to keep supply chains moving and ensure essential imports like fuel and fertiliser can reach Australia.”

National Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“While I support the decision and the bill that's before us today, my concern remains that there is still a matter of the availability of fuel right now, because if small operators cannot afford to buy fuel, then there'll be no fuel at the bowser. It's that simple. Yes, we will support this bill as a necessary step. But I want to say to the government: please do not stop here. Fix the underlying policy settings. Restore support for Australian energy production. Support the entire fuel supply chain, not just those at the top end, and deliver real immediate relief to Australians doing it tough. Restoring fuel security is not just about imports, it's about ensuring that every part of the supply chain, from producer to distributor to small service station, can keep Australia moving. My constituents, and all Australians, deserve nothing less.”

National Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“At the outset I'd like to say that this bill, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill, is welcome. But, as with just about everything this government does, it had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to ultimately get around to doing it. The concept of liquid fuel security is so incredibly important in this country. You didn't have to be a brain surgeon to work out that a war in the Middle East, or a war just about anywhere in the world right now, was going to place significant pressure on our supply chains—but particularly a war in the Middle East.”

Liberal National Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“The fact that we're here today with this rushed legislation coming through, which the opposition have been happy to support because we were given a briefing at seven o'clock last night, shows that the government is literally chasing its tail in trying to deal with this national fuel crisis. I'll give you the most classic example as to why they're doing that. We're making changes to the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act so that they can deal with getting oil here to Australia. Guess what they did last year? They sent a message to EFA, a statement of expectations, saying: 'You're not to touch oil. You're not to touch gas. You're not to touch coal.' And, yet, here we are today, and they've finally realised that oil's important. They had no idea that diesel powers 50 per cent of our energy in this nation—50 per cent! Fishing, farming and mining are all dependent on diesel. They had no idea about the importance of diesel and no idea about the importance of coal and gas to our nation, especially when you have something like a war taking place. The government had to be led kicking and screaming to admit there was a national crisis going on. Now, finally, they seem to be taking some measures to deal with supply. I hope they're successful, and that's why we're happy to support it.”

Liberal Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“So welcome back to the Labor Party. Welcome back to the land of common sense and the planet called Earth. It's just a little bit late, and I do think there are still shortcomings with this approach, which, unfortunately, may cause issues for us in the future. As I say, we will happily guide the Labor Party back to planet Earth. We've been here. We never left, so we know the way around here, and we'll help them get this bill through the Senate at the last minute. But, in doing so, I want to flag that we will move some amendments that would, once and for all, see Labor's war on fossil fuels end. If the Labor Party doesn't support these very reasonable amendments, we will see that their last-minute conversion to these issues is fake one. It's not real. They are just trying to manage themselves from one political crisis to another, not to really solve the issues ahead of our nation.”

Liberal National Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“The government clearly have a mindset of 'Don't waste a crisis', and they're using the urgency of the fuel crisis as cover to give themselves sweeping powers to invest in anything at all in the future, and that could include things like weapons manufacturing. I will point out that this is not limited to the duration of the fuel crisis; they are forever powers. That's why the Greens have asked the government to make these emergency measures temporary and sunset after six months. That's why I will be moving an amendment to do just that. The government has not made the case to extend these measures any longer, nor have they made the case that a minister should be able to make these decisions without bringing them back to parliament for a review, as is the normal role of the Senate, which is why I have a second committee-stage amendment to correct that. Our third committee-stage amendment seeks to rule out any use of this new power to perpetuate war or to invest in weapons—very commonsense guardrails that I urge the Senate to support. People deserve support. They didn't ask for this war. They definitely didn't ask for the chaos that it's causing. And here we are still so desperately reliant on foreign fossil fuels when we have an abundance of renewable energy that we could be electrifying our transport fleet with, making sure that people's daily needs are met and we have safe renewable energy independence. (Time expired)”

Australian Greens • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“This is talking about securing up the spot market, which is vitally important. If we don't do that, it's going to exacerbate the problem.”

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“We support the bill because fuel in the tank is non-negotiable for national security, but at what cost? We will not pretend that this legislation is anything other than a second-best remedy for policy failure. The real test of this parliament will be: what do we do next? Will we slash the red and green tape that has strangled new exploration and refineries? Will we build the processing capacity that turns our resources into high-value Australian-made products? Will we be a partner of industry to get the most from our resources instead of a roadblock? Or will we simply congratulate ourselves for patching the holes in the ship? This bill deserves passage, but it's a long way short.”

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“But, as serious as this crisis is, Australians must not fool themselves into thinking that this is the full extent of the danger, or that these measures that we're putting through today will solve the danger. They will not. What we're dealing with now is only a warning. The current disruption has exposed just how fragile Australia has become. We are too dependent on overseas supply chains. We are too slow to prepare for shocks. We do not have the resources. We can no longer make the fuel we need in our own country to protect ourselves from these predictable crises. And that is because of Labor's obsession with net zero, which is why One Nation's position is clear: we must scrap net zero now. Net zero is making Australia weaker, not stronger. It is making energy dearer, industry less competitive and our country more exposed. It punishes every sector that keeps Australia running, while forcing us towards unreliable systems and imported food—everything. And it leaves us completely dependent on other countries. That is not a responsible way to run a country. That is an act of national self-harm.”

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“The central idea in this legislation is sound, and I will support it to address a temporary emergency situation. It gives Export Finance Australia a flexible set of tools—insurance, derivatives, loans and other arrangements—to derisk additional cargoes to encourage suppliers to bid for discretionary shipments. But these laws need guardrails to ensure these powers are temporary and not used to finance fossil fuels for any longer than would address the immediate fuel security crisis. To that end, I would urge the government to consider a much earlier period of review for this legislation.”

Independent • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“This morning, the government introduced this emergency legislation aimed at ensuring Australia's continued fuel supply during the ongoing war in the Middle East. I support emergency measures around fuel supply, especially where Australia's reserves sit well below the International Energy Agency's 90-day mandate and are, in fact, amongst the lowest in the OECD.”

Independent • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“As I understand it, this bill was originally conceived to establish a strategic reserve for critical minerals. But, in response to the unfolding international crisis, the government has hastily redrafted it, expanding the scope of Export Finance Australia's powers so that it can enter into and support transactions to shore up fuel and other strategic supplies. When supply chains are under stress and prices are spiking, Australians expect the government to act. For that reason, I will support this bill to enable the government to respond quickly to the current crisis. But this bill also asks parliament to place a great deal of trust in the executive, trust in the breadth of the powers being granted, trust in a new and expanded role for EFA and trust that taxpayers will be adequately protected when public money is used to underwrite private risk, and it's those issues that I want to focus on today. But, first, let's look at what the bill actually does.”

Independent • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“The Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill 2026 provides new powers to do, I think, two very important things—(1) finance the import of fuel and other necessary goods and (2) provide financial derivatives and price point support to purchase, sell and stockpile fuel and other necessary goods to ensure domestic availability only on government direction and to manage exposures as appropriate, providing flexibility to deal with the current fuel crisis now and to stabilise supply and avoid escalation and destabilisation in the future. It will help the government to manage Australia's exposure to risk around acquisition and delivery of fuel in the unpredictable and destabilised global environment that we're currently in. I would like to thank Mr Farrell for the very early morning detailed briefing on this legislation.”

Centre Alliance • MP • 30 Mar 2026

“Straight up, I'll be supporting the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill 2026, which will create strategic reserves for fuel and critical minerals and give the government the ability to better respond to future disruptions to supply chains.”

Independent • Senator • 31 Mar 2026

“But support for action is not the same as support for unchecked power. While I support the bill, like Senator Tyrrell I have concerns about the breadth of the powers it creates and the need for greater transparency in how these powers are used. When parliament extends broad authority to the executive, and when public money is used to underwrite private risk, Australians deserve to know how decisions are being made and how their interests are being protected.”

Independent • Senator • 31 Mar 2026